4 years

On the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial building is where we celebrated our fourth year anniversary. And let me tell you the Roof did not dissapoint, worth every penny. Just the desserts alone would have been worth it for me.

I guess staring at the Temple makes me feel a little nastalgic. As I sat there looking out the window of the beautiful view of the temple and surrounding city, I felt very grateful. Grateful for the life I have. Grateful for a man who loves me. Grateful for the little person we made. We talked about how fun it would be to live in down town Salt lake and live "that" kind of life style.. ya know all cool and urban. The truth is I like my life just the way it is, and I think its pretty cool. The truth is I didn't think my life could have been this cool.

I asked Mason as were were sitting there what his favorite part of the last four years was. He said hands down the day Cash was born. I agreed. He said that day broke him down to his bare Essentials.. we both laughed because that doesn't even make sense, and becuase that is a cosmetics line. And then I corrected him and said no, Bare Minerals. Then he held up his fork with chunk of prime rib on it and said since we are talking about the day Cash was born,"this looks like your placenta". I agreed.

Bug bites, sheep, and elephants..

I noticed one morning Cash had a little red dot on his forehead... 2 hours later it was the size of a golf ball! Apparently he's allergic to mosquito's, or spiders or whatever it was that got him. Besides looking a little alienish and people at the grocery store staring at him like I beat my child, he didn't seem to mind. I don't think it bothered him a bit.. maybe blocked his vision a little.

We had a fun filled Halloween this year. Started with the Nord's party at the nursing home, the Friends party at the Marriotts, and the Salmon party at my house. The rain put a damper on things (literally) Halloween night, but Cash still had a great time mostly answering the door at Nana's house and just say "Hi, hi, hi" to all the kids at the door. Here I am with my sheep. We found a little trail of Cotton balls everywhere we went..no worries it didn't take me very long to glue them on, only like 3 weeks.

Cash had his first visit to the zoo last week along with Jemaica and Piper. I think he enjoyed it, I was hoping for a little more excitement, but it was a good change of pace and I think the last of our good weather for a while.

'round here..

Lately Mason has been really busy. Me and Cash.. not so much. With him working and going to school full time its just the two of us trying to fill our days with parks, lunch dates with friends, walks, Oprah, Ellen, and Elmo. These are a few pictures of our simple life over the last little while.

Taking advantage of Mase being home on a Saturday with breakfast at Sills.

(Taken before Cash squirted the guy behind us right in the back of the head with little packages of cream that they keep at the table..woopsi.)

At one of the many parks we have visited lately.

Black island farms..Cash had a ball at this place.

Docs Orders

For me, lake Powell is my Happiest place on earth. This week we spent a much too short 3 days there. It was fabulous. My child slept like a rock, the weather couldn't have been better, the company was wonderful , and our beach was beautiful.

If someone were to ask me a favorite childhood memory. Lake Powell is probably the first 10 favorites that come to mind. I really want to intstill a love for this place into my children. I think Cash is catching my drift. He probably spent 6 hours of the day playing in the sand.

For the past 20 years "Docs Orders" has been our source of shelter. It may not be much on the eyes, but I will defend it to its death. I love that it looks a little rickety and white trash. I love that its meant to sleep 6 people, maybe 8, and we somehow managed to pack 20 plus bodies. This year is most likely the last year we will spent with the boat.. moving on to bigger and better things. I'll never forget all the fun memories created with Docs orders.

18

I want to remember every smell, touch, sound of every stage of this little man, and I'm so afraid some day I'm going to forget. These are some of the things that I really dont want to forget of Cash at 18 months.

How the majority of our summer of '10 was spent at the pool.

And that led to getting this picture on film..

How he can't walk past Mason's skate board without insisting he take a ride.

"Cash, where's your eyes?"

"Who loves Mom?"

How blonde his hair gets in the summer. And how that head smells at the end of a long summer day. (weird?)

- How I hear the word "Mum" about 100 times a day

-How the first half hour after Mason gets home at night consists of a laughing, screaming, wrestling match.

-Which leads him to thinking he can tackle and wrestle anybody. Including babies..we're working on that one.

-How the first two words he put together was "no way". More like "nowey".

-How he can't help but laugh when I'm laughing.

- How Macey Green calls him "Cashey Boy"

-How every morning when I get him out of bed he instantly lays his head on my shoulder for a few minutes before deciding he's awake for the day.

Proof

I truly believe a home grown tomato is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy. This year I planted my very first garden. All I did was tomatoes. I didn't realize how spectacular my tomatoes were doing until I saw some other people's garden's (I won't name names) and realized I had something special going on here. I have tomatoes coming out my ears... I'm not complaining, I'm bragging. Next step, canning Salsa, spaghetti sauce, and anything else I can think of involving tomatoes.

Timpanogos Cave

I love when Mason's Sister and her family come into town. It means there is always a party going on somewhere, and we do things we wouldn't normally do... like hike... not unless someone forces us. I can't believe I have lived in Utah my whole life and have never hiked up to the Timpanogos Caves. I forgot how beautiful Utah is.. until I was 1000 feet up looking down.

Still conducting business as usual on the trail..

(There's still concrete that needs to be poured!..his words, not mine.)

Cash had a good time until his feet went numb from the "infant" carrier.. apparently he's not an "infant" anymore..

A few bites to remember the trip..

Did you know this cave was found by a man following moutain lion tracks... why would you ever follow a moutain lion, let alone into a cave!

Its Independence Day

Mason and I always disagree on which holiday is the best. For me, its the 4th of July, the day of our Independence. Although I do truly enjoy the taste of a hot dog fresh off the grill, and I do love the smell of fireworks just after dark, and I even enjoy waking up early to see the parade. But this year I realized the true reason I love the fourth of July. I love that Mason and I ate breakfast together for the first time in a long time, and were able to spend the day together. Its the best because I had no schedule to follow, no appointments to make, except with the pool. The real reason I love the fourth of July is to spend time with my family and to enjoy conversations with the people I love. God Bless America.

My perfect vacation

My perfect vacation would include:

Mason,

Eating,

Beautiful scenary,

Hot, Humid weather,

Doing absolutely nothing,

And being in the company of some really fun people,

My perfect vacation happened. Last week we were in the Florida keys and had a blast. It was more than I hoped it would be. Sleeping in, hot weather, not a care in the world but where to eat each night.. perfect I tell ya. I just close my eyes and i'm laying by the pool sippin' on a pina colada. I'm having a hard time facing reality this week.

Conversations with Cash

Cash talks to me all day long. I love to hear his little (sometimes not so little) voice go up and down like he knows exactly what he is saying. I have no idea what he is saying, but if I did I think he would tell me the following things:

* He loved helping me plant the garden, and the dirt was delicious.

* He loves how EVERYTHING is a hat.

* Eating spaghetti, was almost as fun as eating dirt.

* He thinks I am Hilarious!